Talk You Down
by buenasvibraciones
Summary: Rather than let the love of his life walk away forever, Noah Puckerman goes after her.  He doesn't know if he'll get to her in time or if it'll matter if he does; all he knows is that he can't lose her.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: My first attempt at a Puckleberry futurefic, I'm terribly sorry if it sucks. Rated T for Puck's mouth, badasses don't censor their language.  
>I own nothing. Unfortunately, Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy. If I did own it, Noah Puckerman would not know what a shirt was.<br>Fic title and inspiration comes from The Script song "Talk You Down". If you haven't heard it, listen to it now. It's amazing  
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Rachel Berry sat on the couch of the fourth floor walk-up in Brooklyn that she shared with her fiancé. She watched the seconds tick by as she took a sip of water. This was the last straw.

After Noah had gotten his job as a producer for one of the biggest record labels in New York City; Rachel had spent many nights waiting on him. She'd put up with a lot; cancelled dates, forgotten anniversaries, nights spent waiting up only for him to come stumbling in at four A.M. after drinks with clients. She put up with all of it because she knew that everything he did, he did for them, for their future together. But this was purely selfish, she'd begged him to be home for dinner tonight, she'd told him she had huge news; that she needed to talk to him and he'd sworn that he would be home.

12 hours earlier

"_Oh my gosh! Are you...are you serious?" Rachel clutched the phone closer to her ear, resisting the urge to squeal. "You're offering me the female lead in 'West Side Story'? You're offering me the role of Maria?" She asked, her voice rising on the final word._

"_Yes, ma'am, I am. The play's set to run for two years at the West End Theatre", the man on the other end of the phone replied, "I was in New York a couple months back and I saw your audition for 'Beauty and the Beast' at the Players Theatre, and I thought you were fabulous."_

"_But I didn't get that role."_

"_I'm aware of that, Miss Berry, and it's fortunate for me that you didn't, or I'd have to find myself a new Maria." He laughed at Rachel's sharp intake of breath before continuing, "I understand if you need time to think about whether or not you'd like to accept this role, after all, I am asking you to move to London for the duration of the play."_

_Rachel sighed, the high from being offered the role of a lifetime beginning to wear off as she considered the choice she faced. "How long do I have to give you answer?"_

"_Table reads start in three weeks, rehearsals in a month. I'd like an answer as soon as possible, no longer than a week. If you choose to take this role, I'd advise coming to London with a couple of weeks to spare, so you have time to get settled before rehearsals."_

"_Of course, I'll think this over and get back to you promptly. Thank you so much, Mr. Andrews."_

"_I hope to see you soon, Rachel." _

Immediately after she'd hung up the phone she'd called Noah. Rachel had refused to tell him her news over the phone, making him promise to be home at six. It was nearing three in the morning and he still hadn't come home, hadn't even called to let her know he wouldn't be there. She glanced to the door, where her suitcases sat, packed. When Noah hadn't shown up by midnight, she'd packed her bags and booked a six A.M. flight to London, if Noah wasn't home by the time she had to leave, he'd find everything he needed to know in the note she'd written and left on his desk, next to the note, he'd find her engagement ring. If he showed, the she'd tell him everything; explain why she was leaving him. She'd call the director right before she boarded her flight to tell him her decision.

As Rachel heard a key turn in one of the three padlocks on the door to the apartment, she stood, straightening her clothes, brushing off the non-existent wrinkles in her shirt.

Noah shut the door behind him and jumped when he looked up to see Rachel standing in the living room. "Geez, Rach, you scared the hell outta me. What are you still doing up?"

"You promised you'd be home at six. I told you I wanted to talk to you."

"What?" He looked genuinely confused for a moment before his confusion turned into realization and then almost immediately into regret. "Babe, I am _so_ sorry. One of the new clients wanted to take me out for drinks, he's really important, I couldn't say no."

"It sounds like he's important, clearly more important than your fiancée." Rachel stepped away from Noah as he reached out for her. "I had something _huge _to tell you, Noah."

"Okay, well tell me now, babe. Or we can go to bed and you can tell me tomorrow. I've got the whole day off; we can go to Central Park or see a show, whatever you want." He stepped forward, taking her left hand and pulling her to sit on the couch. He ran his fingers over her knuckles, freezing when he expected to feel Rachel's engagement ring under his fingers, instead feeling nothing. "Where's your ring?"

Rachel's face fell, "I won't be here tomorrow." Noah tilted his head, trying to read her expression. She was staring over his shoulder, towards the door. Following her gaze, he finally noticed the suitcase resting next to the door.

"What the hell?" He stood, pulling away from her, his face a mask of anger. "Were you even gonna _tell _me you were leaving? If I hadn't walked through that door when I did, would you have left without telling me?" He narrowed his eyes at her, waiting for an answer.

"I got offered the role of Maria." She watched his face soften, a smile almost forming before he controlled his expression.

"What does that have to do with you leaving? And don't think I didn't notice that you didn't answer my question."

"The role is in London." Rachel spoke, uncharacteristically quiet.

"London? You took a job halfway across the fucking world! Isn't this the kind of thing you should talk to your fiancé about?" Noah was fuming as he ran his fingers over his buzzed head.

"That's why I wanted you to be home! I wanted to talk to you about this. I hadn't decided to go, not until you didn't show up." She sighed before continuing, "You didn't care enough to be here, I figured my decision didn't matter all that much to you."

"Stop being such a fucking drama queen! I care about you, you know I do. Everything I've done has been for us. I fucking _love _you. How can you doubt that?"

"It's a great theatre, Noah. Scouts from Broadway go to shows there all the time. This could be a huge break for me!" Rachel tried to explain

"You know where else they have fucking Broadway scouts? New York! You don't have to move halfway across the goddamn world for a scout to see you. The least you could do is be honest with me about why you're leaving. This isn't about a damn job, Berry," Rachel winced at his use of her last name; he only used it when he was especially upset. "I know you better than you know yourself, Rachel, but I guess I never knew you were a coward. You're running away instead of trying to fix us. So you know what, just fucking go. Our relationship was over the second you took that job because you gave up on us." He turned, stalking away from her.

"I'll send for the rest of my stuff after I'm settled. I'm sorry, Noah. I love you, I do, but I can't live like this anymore." As she turned and wiped the tears from her eyes she heard the bedroom door slam. Grabbing the handle of her suitcase, she let her eyes sweep over the apartment one last time before walking out the door.

Rachel walked out the front door of the apartment building and hailed a cab. She lifted her suitcase into the trunk and as she slid into the back seat the cab driver asked "Where to, Miss?"

She sighed, realizing she'd left her flight information sitting on her desk in the apartment, but luckily she had an impeccable memory. "JFK," she replied, closing the cab door.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed and added this story to their favourites/alerts. Everything is un-beta'd. I still own nothing.**

Noah opened the bedroom door, glancing around before walking into the living room. He grabbed the bottle of Jack as he walked through the kitchen before throwing himself onto the couch. He unscrewed the cap and took a swig, wincing as the liquid burned its way down his throat. "Bitch," he muttered bitterly to the empty apartment, "Can't believe she actually fucking left. So much for forever."

18 months earlier

"_Noah!" Rachel called as her attempt to open the apartment door was thwarted by the chain across it, "Noah! Open the door!"_

"_Sorry, Rach!" He yelled back, "Gimme a minute, I'm almost done."_

"_Almost done _what_? Noah, what are you _doing_ in there?" She sighed as the door was pushed shut and then pulled open, revealing her smirking boyfriend._

"_Hey, babe," He pulled her in for a kiss before asking, "How was your day?"_

"_Long and exhausting. I hate my job, Noah. People are rude and inconsiderate and ungrateful. I get coffee for these people all day, and I don't get a single 'thank you'! I get told that the coffee is too weak and then it's too strong, or there's not enough cream or that there's too much sugar! Just once I would like someone to be grateful for something I do. I did not spend four years getting a degree in theatre from Julliard to get coffee for talentless hacks. I don't want to be a theatre assistant! I want to be a star; I want to be the _lead_, Noah." Rachel finally took a breath, looking around the apartment. Her eyes widened as she met Noah's smirking gaze, "Noah, candles? And I smell – did you make dinner?"_

"_Damn right, I did. Figured my girl deserved it after she worked her sweet little ass off for 'talentless hacks'." He smiled as she threw her arms around him._

"_Best. Boyfriend. Ever," She squealed, punctuating each word with a kiss._

_He laughed breathlessly, "Go get changed, I'll get everything set."_

_Rachel sat down at the table as Noah set a glass of wine in front of her before sitting in the chair next to her. _

_As they finished eating, Noah stood and cleared their plates, dropping a napkin on the floor in the process. Dropping the plates off in the kitchen, he walked back into their small, adjacent dining room and dropped to one knee to pick up the napkin as he pulled a ring box out of his pocket. Rachel gasped sharply as Noah started into what was probably the longest speech of his life._

"_Rach, I spent a year giving you slushy facials and not only did you forgive me, you actually agreed to date me, _twice_. Sophomore year, you dumped my ass on the bleachers and at the time I was pissed, but now I realize that it was the right move. If we'd stayed together, I woulda just ended up hurting you 'cause I wasn't ready to fall for you and I inevitably would've, a guy would have to be crazy not to. After the ultimate implosion of the Finchel show in senior year, you and I realized how perfect we were for each other. Forgiving me for everything I've done just proved what I'd known for a long time: you're the best person I know, Rachel. Being with _you_ makes _me_ a better person. Before you, I never had anyone to believe in me unconditionally. You've been there for everything. You put up with my drinking and swearing, you keep my ass grounded when I feel like I'm losing it. You've always believed I'd make something of myself and when I do, I can't imagine having anyone but you next to me. You make me wanna prove to everyone who never believed in us that a Lima loser and a Broadway freak can make it big. Rachel Berry, I fell half in love with you when I was sixteen and I've only fallen deeper since. Whattaya say; you wanna marry me?"_

"_Only you would use the word 'ass' in a marriage proposal," Rachel laughed as she wiped the tears already beginning to fall._

"_I'm gonna actually need an answer. My leg's goin' numb here, babe."_

"_Right! Yes! Of course it's yes, you idiot!" She threw herself at him, beaming. "I _love_ you! Did you really think I'd say no?"_

He pulled himself back to the present, setting the still nearly full bottle down on the table in front of him. Without consciously making the decision to do so, he was in the bedroom he shared with Rachel, frantically throwing clothes in a duffel bag.

Back in the living room, he found the note she'd left on his desk, throwing it in the trash can, while pocketing Rachel's ring. He tore apart her desk next to his, looking for anything to tell him where she was, _C'mon, babe, which airport are you at? What flight are you on? There! _He'd never been so grateful for those obnoxiously bright pink post-it notes in his life. He scanned the post-it, reading: JFK. Flight 414 to London, England. Departs at 6:15 A.M. Glancing at his watch, which read 4:34, he bolted out the front door, taking the stairs in record time before hailing a cab while trying to catch his breath.

"Where are you heading, son?" The driver asked as Noah slammed the door.

"JFK, and get me there fast."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So it's like 1:30 A.M., but I'm going out of town for a couple of weeks and I wanted to finish this before I left. So anyways, this is the final chapter. **

After what was the longest cab ride of his life, despite his many pleas for the driver to 'hurry the fuck up', they pulled to a stop at one of the many entrances to JFK. Jumping out of the cab, Noah tossed money at the driver, yelling for him to keep the change as he dashed through the automatic doors and into the airport, which was bustling despite the early hour.

He stared up at a screen displaying departures, searching for the gate number of Rachel's flight. He finally spotted it, '_Flight 414 to London, England – Gate 17'_. Dodging people and ignoring their disgruntled glances, he shoved his way towards gate 17.

He reached the gate Rachel's flight was set to depart from and spotted her on the far side of the room, staring out the window as the sun rose, lighting up the tarmac. He strode towards her, suddenly realizing that he had no idea what to say to her. He stepped up behind her and deciding to wing it, placed his hand on her shoulder. "Rach," he breathed out as she slowly turned to face him.

"Noah," she glanced up at him through her eyelashes, "what are you _doing_ here?" Noah opened his mouth to respond, and then snapped it shut again. When he didn't respond, Rachel put her hands on her hips, finally meeting Noah's eyes, and narrowing hers. "If you're here to tell me not to go, then –"

"I'm not," he cut her off, finally realizing what he wanted to say to her. "I'm not here to ask you to stay; I don't want you to stay," he stopped as her face fell. "No! That's not – I didn't mean it like that. This is your _dream_, Rach. You've wanted to be Maria since you were, like, five. I want that for you, I want you to have everything you've ever wanted, so if that means you have to move to London, then _yeah_, you should move to London," He took a deep breath before continuing, "The thing is, I moved to New York for _you_," She opened her mouth, as if to interrupt him. "I _know_, Rach, you didn't ask me to move to New York for you, I followed you because I realized a long time ago that I don't wanna be anywhere you're not. If you leave then there's nothing keeping me in New York, so no, I'm not telling you not to go, I'm telling you that I'm coming with you." He grabbed her hand and stroked his thumb over the back of her hand.

"You can't…Noah, you can't just leave. You have a job here. Your _clients_, Noah, you can't just take off. You have responsibilities."

"Fuck it. It's just a job, Rachel. I can do the same damn job in London or anywhere else in the world. It's not important, _you're_ what matters.

"This doesn't fix everything, Noah. Let's say you come to London with me, then what? What if we keep fighting? What if we can't be happy together again? God, Noah, what if the reason we haven't _been_ happy is because we're not supposed to be together?" She pulled her hands from his grasp and took a step back. "What if going to London together just makes it worse?"

He let out a half-hearted laugh. "It can't get much worse, Rachel, we _broke up_. I figure it can only go up from there."

She sighed, exasperated. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do, and maybe you're right. Maybe me coming to London won't fix anything, but, damn it, Rach; we sure as hell can't fix anything while we're on separate continents. I'm not guaranteeing anything, but I can't lose you like this. I can't let you go, knowing that I didn't do anything to stop you. I'm willing to try if you are." He met her eyes again, silently pleading for a chance.

"So you want to fix this? You still want to be with me, even though a large majority of the time I'm over dramatic and very often crazy?" He nodded and a small smile graced her lips as she responded, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yes, come with me," She watched as a genuine smile broke out across his face. "I have to ask, though, what made you change your mind? What made you come after me? You were so mad…I wasn't sure I'd _ever_ see you again, let alone just an hour after I left."

"I realized what's important to me. I thought about the night I proposed to you, I knew that our relationship wouldn't always be perfect; but that night, it didn't matter. When I asked you to marry me, it was because I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you and that _hasn't_ changed. I was pissed when I let you leave and I never should have," The smile that has started out small was practically beaming when he stopped talking. "And for the record, I _love_ your crazy; it's one of my favourite things about you."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his, her tongue silently pleading for entry. He wound his arms around her waist, lifting her slightly off the ground as he deepened the kiss. She nipped at his bottom lip as she pulled away from the kiss. Noah set her feet gently on the ground and ran his fingers through her hair.

"I love you, Noah, so much."

"I love you too, babe. I almost forgot; I brought you something." He pulled her engagement ring out of his pocket and slid it on her finger. Grabbing her hand, he asked, "Are you ready for this?"

She smiled up at him, "Bring it."

**A/N: Cheesy ending, I know, I'm totally lame. Thanks to anyone who actually followed this story, short as it was. You guys are awesome.**


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